GNR Musings

Having read the other post-GNR threads, I thought I'd add my tuppence-worth to the debate. I was quite surprised to find myself sharing the orange section at the start with loads of folk with white numbers (and one or two greens!). A lot of slow runners started further ahead than they really should have done, but I'm not sure what they could do about that. What do they do at other large-scale events? Unless it's your first half-marathon (as it was for me), perhaps the GNR isn't the sort of event to try for a PB. It's not just that there are 46,999 other runners, but the route is quite hilly and there must be flatter races to have a go at. It was my first attempt at a half-marathon, so I wasn't overly concerned about the slow start - I knew it would prevent me from going too fast too quickly. As for those spotted walking during the first mile, I think I was more worried about those who had to stop for a toilet break before the Tyne Bridge!

I've been running for a few years now, and it was the GNR that first made me think about entering races and joining a club. For that reason, I'll always have a good word to say about it. The weather on the day was as good as I could have hoped for, but what really made the GNR for me was the atmosphere. The sheer size of the event made it special, and the people who lined the route were absolutely brilliant. It wouldn't have been the same with those who turned up to clap, cheer, high-five passing runners, or even hand out ice pops or slices of orange. Thanks folks, you did the North East proud.

The only real disappointments were the drop-off / pick-up locations used by the Nirvana coaches. It wasn't so much the walk before the race, but given that they were the official accomodation and transfer company, couldn't they have found somewhere closer to the finish area to collect weary runners? I had planned to travel home straight after the race, and so I had a whole weekend's worth of clothes and stuff to carry all the way back to the bus. Not only that, but those who were supposed to be taken to the finish - including my girlfriend who, like me, overpacked for the weekend - had to walk the same distance (back along the bus route!) to the finish area. Well, whatever, nevermind. One other gripe: why such a small bottle of water at the finish? Note to self: Next time, don't discard a half-finished bottle at the final drinks station!

I agree about the water, I expected them to put a bottle in the goody bag but there wasn't one. The munchies in there were certainly very welcome though!! We didn't use the coaches, but had to get the metro back from South Shields, and I was not very happy when I realised the station was about a mile away from the finish!! Not what I really wanted having just run 13 miles, but boyfriend kept telling me it was good to stretch off the legs with a walk rather than just collapse on a bus..... wasn't convinced at the time but I suppose he was probably right....

Yes, when can we expect the results? Agree about the long walk back to Nirvana coach, and the early drop off. I got dropped off at 8am - that's a long time to wait. Luckily it wasn't raining or very cold. I suppose they have to do that because the roads will be closed to traffic?

Main problem with the Nirvana coaches was that I had to wait 45 minutes for the coach to even go anywhere, (one couple had been waiting even longer) no one told us how long, the coach was baking but as we had no idea when it would leave there was no where really to go. I for one will not be using them again.

This was also my first GNR, first race ever in fact.The atmosphere was brilliant, weather very nice - if a bit warm, crowds fantastic. I put down for 1h 40mins and so was in the white section at the start, but did see a lot of whites in the orange bit.Took me 6 mins to get to the start line, I was hoping for 1h 40 and was told by other runners it would not be achievable as too crowded. I got into the run about mile 5, and kept going faster from there, feeling good. Managed to get througth the finish at 1h 38mins ( officialy 1h 44mins )The last mile seemed to go on forever. Once I collected my goody bag, went straight to the beer tent - best pint of lager I've ever had. Looking foreward to next year already. I stayed in Whitley Bay the night before,curry capital of the world, very close to the metro - 20 mins to town centre, after the race metro back to Whitley, back in York 2 hours later. Next year will stay 2 nights there and enjoy the night re living the race and a curry.The race results are out wednesday I believe.

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